To Start
by Ironinkpen
Summary: 10 years ago today, it all began.


**Summary:** 10 years ago today, it all began.

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** None

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Danny Fenton was by no means a particularly extraordinary child, and he'd be sure to tell you so. He prided himself in the fact that he was completely average, unlike his parents, who were so completely_ not_ average. Danny had an aversion for things that weren't normal and a strong determination to be the most unnoticeable person _ever_ during high school, where being different made you a large, glaring target.

In that sense, he would have a very boring school life, which didn't bother him a bit. He didn't want the excitement- he shunned it even. His only worry during this time was avoiding Dash Baxter on his regular angry stampedes and getting high enough grades to qualify for the NASA space program. Sure, he might be boring _now_, he'd think, but when they had school reunions, he'd go as Danny Fenton, world-renowned _astronaut_.

But he was due for a little excitement- at least, that was what Samantha Manson always said. Just a little, Danny, can you imagine all the amazing things that are on the other side of that portal?

Tucker Foley, fingers scrambling to win an electronic game, goaded him similarly. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, after all, and, dude, it's not like it even works anyway, so just go in and take a picture!

Little Danny Fenton, even with his averageness and normalness, thought that having a bit of fun during school would not be a crime. He'd go in, pose, and years later he'd tell his kids the story of his tiny little act of defiance (between tales of planet hopping, of course) and prove that he was totally not completely uninteresting during high school. So, tugged on that jumpsuit, took a breath, and, for once in his life, dared to do something a bit strange.

As fate would have it, Danny was hopelessly clumsy. He didn't even make it a few feet in before he tripped up, only moving by a bit, only a centimeter, but as he went to steady himself his hand went flying just a little more forward, a little further out, a little nearer to something that wasn't supposed to be there, a little closer to a very wonderful mistake.

Just as his fingertips skimmed the button, a quiet voice called, "Time out."

Danny, mid-slip, stopped. Sam, mid-rant, quieted. Tucker, mid-picture, froze with his hand on the camera button. The air between the three twisted and distorted and it was there that a young boy appeared, holding a long staff.

This boy was everything Danny Fenton renounced in that he was completely_ not_ average. To begin with he was blue, with red eyes and a mean looking scar that ran down his forehead to a cheek. The other aspect of him that one would notice immediately was that he was floating in mid-air.

The air around the boy shifted again, and he was suddenly a man. "Time flows like a parade," He said to the unhearing inhabitance of the room, his voice echoing in the small lab with otherworldly clarity. "And I can see the many twists and turns it may take."

He floated over to small, unassuming Danny Fenton, whose blue eyes shone with confusion and a little surprise at his own fall. Clockwork, Master of all of Time, stood virtually alone in that room and took in the look of that innocent boy. He, who only worried about being normal and well-liked, who only bothered with rockets and stars, who only really wanted to scrape by through life with minimal resistance, would die today.

"I must apologize. You will face many hardships from this point on." Clockwork's face sagged with age and a bristling white beard appeared on his chin. He hunched over his staff now. "You will shoulder many difficult burdens. The world will now fall to your hands."

Clockwork saw all the futures where those hands could not carry the weight. These were the futures the Observants sometimes caught glimpses of- the ones that led to years of debate over keeping the boy alive through childhood. It was here, at this point of divergence, that it was clear. Danny Fenton, desperately unextraordinary, would either become the world's greatest hero, or it's downfall.

He looked back at Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley, who had quite a few decisions to make themselves- the most important of which would come right after Danny's hand hit the button. Clockwork knew that the adventure, whatever path it might take, would begin here, and that nothing would be the same after that.

"You will not get the peaceful school life you wished for. You will face much opposition. There will be people who would like to see you fall. There are others still who will not be kind to you regardless of your good deeds. There will be many a time where you resent everything you stand for." Clockwork could only hope that he'd keep standing. "You will face much pain and disappointment."

For some inconceivable reason, he then smiled. Smiled like he knew something that no one else did, like he had written a joke and was enjoying the punch line all on his own.

"Do not fret, though, young Phantom. Everything is they way it's supposed to be." He turned to each of them and scanned their faces, trying to remember every detail. He lingered on Danny's the longest, taking in the wide, bright eyes, the hunched shoulders that seemed to curl in on themselves, and the boyish face that would in years grow into something more defined and more mature. He saw a million futures in which that face became an icon for fear, but saw billions more where it was a symbol of justice, of goodness, of humanity. And he also saw one possibility tucked away in the midst of all the others that featured a family dinner and laughter and friendship and a woman with a round belly and a man with twinkling eyes and an excited smile and a happy mischief that had weathered years and years, and it was that little, far off possibility that made all the others so worth it in Clockwork's mind. "Your future will be bright. I am sure of it."

He tapped the ground in front of him and time began to churn again, slowly. A hand met a button. Samantha's eyes churned to the right to meet Danny's, and her mouth fell open in warning. Tucker's PDA slipped out of his hand. In the middle of the portal, a spark jumped to life.

"Time in."

And he vanished and left the heroes to their story.

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Guess who totally didn't procrastinate on her Dannyversary fic until the night of _ha ha not th i s gir l_

I just have a lot of feelings for this show and these characters and I could write a whole meta about Danny's personality and how every person in the trio foils the other two but it would take ages so I wrote this instead. Thank you, Butch Hartman, for one day doodling a stupid ghost boy on a paper and making a story out of it. Danny Phantom was a show that grew up with me and was a major part of my childhood. It's the thing that really got me interested in story-telling, and I'm forever thankful to you for making it a reality. Despite it being 10 years later, thousands of teens and adults still enjoy your show- it's had an impact on all of us.

As for you guys, thanks for reading! For those of you that are following (in perpetual wait for)_ Of Field Trips and Phantoms_, I'm currently editing chapter 2 and I've got the complete plot fleshed out now. Sorry for the slow going, it'll take a bit longer, but once the beginning is solid, the rest of the story will be smooth story!

Thanks again to Butch and to you guys! Happy Dannyversary everyone!


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